Human rights are rights that are considered to apply to all people no matter who they are, what they own, or where they live - they are rights that are independent of ethnicity and nationality. The notion of univeral rights was first articulated in modern laws in the British Bill of Rights, which in 1689 made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions in the United Kingdom. During the 18th century, the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen both established certain inalienable rights to their respective citizens. Canada adopted its Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 with the patriation of the Constitution.

Background

!!!The Preamble to the UN Declaration of Human Rights?
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

The UN declaration is important, not because it is an enforceable law, but because it is a statement of community standards for all the people of the world. The declaration has been translated into more than 300 languages.

related issues

Positions

[+] The UN should enforce human rights in all nations and human rights should be declared to exist whether governments agree to them or not.

[+] Human rights are intertwined with political and economic development, and cannot be a pre-requisite for diplomatic or economic relations.

While it remains a desirable ideal, human rights are a luxury which may not be "affordable" to developing countries. If country's people suffer from a lack of basic needs, most citizens will tolerate abuses of human rights in the persuit of economic progress. Therefore, denying trade to a country where human rights violations are perceived to exist may only perpetuate those human rights abuses. Today's developed nations made use of slavery and colonization to build their economies, it is hypocrisy for them to enforce prohibitions on other nations who might do the same.

[+] Says who! What constitutes human rights differs from one culture to the next.

People in some nations and cultures insist that individual rights are not independent of culture and nationality at all - that imagining so is an imagination of western culture.